As a little boy, I learned what it meant to twist words around. I had a teacher in the 4th grade named Mrs. Bethea. She had this thing about always asking her, “Can I?” Now you know how little boys can be always asking, “Can I?” I soon learned that if you wanted to do something, then you needed to say, “Mrs. Bethea, do you want me to do such and such?” Evidently, this was how to reach her.
All I was doing with my wonderful teacher was twisting her words. I stated things differently, but I was still doing what she did not want me to do. Though I got what I wanted, I was really in the wrong. In essence, I was manipulating her. Kids are really good at that, aren’t they?
What may work with a 4th grade teacher, a mom or a dad, will not work with God. Since the Garden of Eden, Satan has tried to change God’s Word with the intent to trick and subdue mankind. Unfortunately, many of the men who occupy pulpits around the world have aided Satan in his trickery; knowingly or not. This is all done under the banner of making things easier to understand and such. These people will have to stand before God and give an account of their compliance with Satan’s agenda.
I want to caution my readers about something that people often do not think about. There is a huge difference in giving an interpretation and conveying a translation. A translation simply seeks to take a word and bring it over into another language. This is done, giving the greatest diligence, to find the right word or phrase to convey the writer’s original thought as expressed in the original document. An interpretation, on the other hand, may give a translation, but it is often infused with the interpreter’s bias. As you know, you can make a document say what you want it to say.
There has been a concerted effort in the last 100 years or so, among English speaking people, to update the English Bible. While many of these so-called translators are very sincere, scores of others are not. Open homosexuals have chaired translating committees and made it plain that they were going to change what the Scriptures said about their sin. Furthermore, under the noble idea of making the Bible to be more easily understood, the Scripture has not been faithfully translated, but maliciously interpreted. This is seen in the fact that many verses are left out completely in some modern English versions. Be careful what version of the Bible you align yourself with. Without reservation, I suggest you stick with the King James Bible.
Whether or not you agree with my much abbreviated assessment of this issue, you will have to agree with me that many preacher’s twist God’s Word. Just as you do not like to have your words twisted around, please do not twist God’s Word around! When you are expressing your opinion… declare it so. Pontificating your thoughts is not what God has called us to do. Rather, we should preach and teach the Word of God, not the word of Andrew (or your name). There is but one interpretation and many applications of the Scripture. Keep it that way in your ministry!
On April 28, 2006 at the Mandan Baptist Church of Mandan, North Dakota I had the awesome privilege to preach this sermon to the Preacher’s Fellowship. It was a great day of preaching, singing, worshiping God and praying! Listening to this message brings back some memories of when I pastored the Cornerstone Baptist Church of Beulah, North Dakota. Feel free to share this message with your friends on facebook or twitter!
